When Can You File a Personal Injury Lawsuit?

Most people know that personal injury claims result from car accidents, truck accidents, biking accidents, dog bites, slip-and-falls, and medical malpractice. Injuries that result from products, like pharmaceutical drugs or medical devices can also create personal injury claims. You can file a personal injury lawsuit after you have suffered an injury due to the negligence of another person or company. Most people do not know that in order to file a personal injury lawsuit, negligence requires that you have evidence of four elements:

• Duty
• Breach
• Causation
• Injury or Damages

If you have evidence to prove all of these elements, then you can file a personal injury lawsuit.

What is Negligence?

At its most basic level, everyone has a duty to behave reasonably to avoid causing harm to others. If a jury could find that a person behaved in an unreasonable way that ended up causing you harm, then you almost have a personal injury claim. Importantly, negligence requires you to suffer some injury or damage that’s provable, usually through medical treatment. People commonly contact personal injury lawyers after an auto accident or a slip-and-fall was caused due to someone’s unreasonable behavior, without any real injury or damages. While some personal injury lawyers will take these cases, they should not because it causes insurance companies to become less willing to pay for legitimate claims with low damages.

Should You Contact a Lawyer?

If you have suffered an injury for which you received medical treatment, of any kind, you should call a qualified lawyer immediately to explore your options. A “wait and see” approach, to determine if things will get worse, is always a bad idea. The defendant will use it against you as much as possible. Even in a whiplash accident, major problems can result after you think you have recovered. It is in your best interest to receive a quality medical evaluation and rehabilitation (e.g. physical therapy or chiropractic care if medically ordered by a physician) to avoid long-term complications. You do not want to find yourself saying, “I have terrible back/neck/arm pain because of this small auto accident that happened years ago, I wish I had called a lawyer to receive the treatment I did not even realize I needed at the time without fear of large medical bills”.

If someone has negligently caused you harm, you should not have to pay for the medical care you need. If you want a lawyer to contact you, you should take a minute to fill out this form for immediate attention.

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